Franz (given name)

Franz is a German name and cognate of the given name Francis. Notable people named Franz include:

Nobility

Austria-Hungary

• Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor (1708–1765)
• Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (1768–1835), founder of the Austrian Empire
• Franz Joseph I (1830–1916), Austrian Emperor
• Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, heir to the thrones of Austria-Hungary, whose assassination in 1914 sparked World War I
• Franz Karl, Archduke of Austria (1802–1878), father of two emperors
• Franz Salvator, Archduke of Austria (1866–1939), Tuscan branch of the House of Habsburg
• Franz, Duke of Hohenberg (1927–1977), head of the House of Hohenburg
• Franz, Prince of Kohary (1760–1826), Imperial Chancellor
• Franz, Prince of Thun and Hohenstein (1847–1916), Governor of Bohemia
• Franz, Count of Deym (1838–1903), diplomat
• Franz, Count of Meran (1839–1891), Austrian Count
• Franz, Count of Gyulai (1798–1868), Governor of Lombardy-Venetia
• Franz, Count Széchényi (1754–1820), Hungarian Count
• Franz Anton von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky (1778–1861), statesman from Prague
• Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf (1852–1925), Chief of the General Staff
• Franz Moritz von Lacy (1725–1801), Field Marshal
• Count Franz Philipp von Lamberg (1791–1848), soldier and statesman

Germany

• Franz, Duke of Bavaria (born 1933), head of the House of Wittelsbach
• Franz, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1750–1806), member of the House of Wettin
• Prince Franz of Bavaria (1875–1957), member of the House of Wittelsbach
• Prince Franz-Josef of Bavaria (born 1957), member of the House of Wittelsbach
• Prince Franz Joseph of Thurn and Taxis (1893–1971), head of the House of Thurn and Taxis
• Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia (born 1943), member of the House of Hohenzollern
• Prince Franz Joseph of Battenberg (1861–1924), member of the House of Hesse
• Franz, Count of Erbach-Erbach (1754–1823), nobleman and art collector
• Franz von Waldeck (1491–1553), Prince-Bishop of Münster

Liechtenstein

• Franz I, Prince of Liechtenstein (1853–1938), sovereign of Liechtenstein
• Franz Joseph I, Prince of Liechtenstein (1726–1781), sovereign of Liechtenstein
• Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein (1906–1989), sovereign of Liechtenstein

Other people

A

• Franz Abt (1819–1885), German composer and Kapellmeister
• Franz Ackermann (born 1963), German painter and installation artist
• Franz Adam (1815–1886), German painter of military subjects
• Franz Alt (mathematician) (1910–2011), Austrian-born American mathematician and computer scientist

B

• Franz Anton Basch, Nazi executed for war crimes
• Franz Bauer (1748–1840), Austrian microscopist and botanist
• Franz Bauer (sculptor) (1798–1872), Austrian sculptor
• Franz Beckenbauer (1945–2024), German football player and manager
• Franz Behr (1837–1898), German composer
• Franz Benda (1709–1786), Czech violinist and composer
• Franz Berwald (1796–1868), Swedish composer
• Franz Beyer (general) (1892–1968), German General in World War II
• Franz Beyer (musicologist) (1922–2018), German musicologist
• Franz Beyer (pilot) (1918–1944), German fighter pilot
• Franz Binder (1911–1989), Austrian football player and coach
• Franz Boas (1858–1942), German-American anthropologist considered the "father of American anthropology"
• Franz Boos (1753–1832), Austrian botanist and explorer during the Enlightenment
• Franz Bopp (1791–1867), German linguist
• Franz Böhm, (born 1999), a BAFTA-winning British-German film director and producer
• Franz Brunner (handballer) (1913–1991), Austrian handball player who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics
• Franz Burda I (1903–1986), German publisher
• Franz Büchner (pathologist) (1895–1991), German pathologist
• Franz Bürkl, Gestapo officer in Nazi-occupied Poland, assassinated in Operation Bürkl

C

• Franz Calustro, Bolivian football player

D

• Franz Defregger (1835–1921), Austrian painter
• Franz Josef Degenhardt (1931–2011), German poet, novelist and singer-songwriter
• Franz de Liagre Böhl (1882-1976), Austrian-born Dutch assyriologist
• Franz-Benno Delonge (1957–2007), designer of German-style board games
• Franz von Dingelstedt (1814–1881), German poet, dramatist, theatre administrator

E

• Franz Engel (1834–1920), German explorer

F

• Franz Joseph Feuchtmayer (1660–1718), German artist, patriarch of the Feuchtmayer family
• Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer the Elder (1698–1763), German Baroque artist and plasterer
• Franz Xaver Feuchtmayer the Younger (1735–1803), German Baroque artist and plasterer
• Franz Fuchs (1949–2000), Austrian terrorist

G

• Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872), Austrian writer and poet

H

• Franz Halberg (1919–2013), one of the founders of chronobiology
• Franz Hein (1892–1976), German chemist
• Franz Herre (1926–2026), German journalist and biographer
• Franz von Hipper (1863–1932), German World War I admiral, commander of the High Seas Fleet
• Franz Hofmeister (1850–1922), German protein scientist
• Franz Hössler (1906–1945), Nazi officer at Auschwitz executed for war crimes
• Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), Austrian composer. He did not himself use the name "Franz"; for discussion see Haydn's name.

J

• Franz Jägerstätter (1907–1943), Austrian conscientious objector during World War II
• Franz Jantscher (born 1969), Austrian politician
• Franz Josef Jung (born 1949), German politician

K

• Franz Kafka (1883–1924), Bohemian novelist
• Franz Kindermann, German merchant
• Franz Klammer (born 1953), champion Austrian alpine ski racer
• Franz Kleffner (1907–1945), SS officer in World War II
• Franz Kline (1910–1962), American abstract painter
• Franz Konrad (SS officer) (1906–1952), German SS officer executed for war crimes
• Franz König (1905–2004), Austrian Cardinal of the Catholic Church

L

• Franz Lachner (1803–1890), German composer and conductor
• Franz Langoth (1877–1953), Austrian nationalist politician
• Franz Lehár (1870–1948), Austrian composer
• Franz Lidz (born 1951), American writer and journalist
• Franz Liszt (1811–1886), Hungarian composer and piano virtuoso

M

• Franz Machon (1918–1968), German sailor in World War II and sole survivor of U-512
• Franz Marc (1880–1916), principal painter of the German Expressionist movement
• Franz Marek (1913–1979), Austrian communist politician
• Franz Erdmann Mehring (1846–1919), German publicist, politician and historian
• Franz Muhri (1924–2001), Austrian communist politician
• Franz Müntefering (born 1940), German politician and industrialist

N

• Franz Nachbaur (1835–1902), German opera tenor
• Franz Xaver Nachtmann (1799–1846), German painter

O

• Franz Oppenheim (1852–1929), German chemist and industrialist

P

• Franz von Papen (1879–1969), Chancellor of Germany in the Weimar Republic

R

• Franz Rademacher (1906–1973), Nazi diplomat and author of the Madagascar Plan
• Franz Reichleitner (1906–1944), Austrian Nazi SS concentration camp commander
• Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929), German-Jewish theologian and philosopher

S

• Franz Schafheitlin (1895–1980), German film actor
• Franz Schalk (1863–1931), Austrian conductor and founder of the Salzburg Music Festival
• Franz Schall (1918–1945), German World War II fighter ace
• Franz Schieß (1921–1943), German World War II fighter ace
• Franz Scholz (1909–1998), German priest and theologian
• Franz von Paula Schrank (1747–1835), German botanist and entomologist
• Franz Schubert (1797–1828), Austrian composer
• Franz Heinrich Schwechten (1841–1924), German architect
• Franz Schwede (1888–1960), Nazi Gaulieter of Pomerania
• Franz Schädle (1906–1945), commander of Adolf Hitler's personal bodyguard
• Franz Wilhelm Seiwert (1894–1933), German constructivist painter and sculptor
• Franz Joseph Spiegler (1691–1757), German Baroque painter
• Franz Stangl (1908-1971), Austrian-born Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
• Franz Stofel (1915–1945), German Nazi concentration camp commander executed for war crimes
• Franz Josef Strauss (1915–1988), German politician
• Franz von Suppé (1819–1895), Austrian composer
• Franz Xaver Süssmayr (1766–1803), Austrian composer

T

• Franz Taurinus (1794–1874), German mathematician
• Franz Thonner (1863–1928), Austrian taxonomist and botanist
• Franz Treichler, Swiss rock musician and singer of The Young Gods

U

• Franz Unger (1800–1870), Austrian botanist, paleontologist and plant physiologist

V

• Franz Vranitzky (born 1937), Austrian politician

W

• Franz Werfel, (1890–1945), Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright and poet

Z

• Franz Ziereis (1905–1945), German Nazi SS concentration camp commandant

Fictional characters

• Franz, a German enemy character in the 1989 video game Human Killing Machine
• Franz, character in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
• Franz, guard in Franz Kafka's novel The Trial
• Hans and Franz, characters of the television show Saturday Night Live
• Franz Bibfeldt, fictitious theologian and in-joke among American academic theologian
• Dr. Franz Eldemann, character from House of Dracula
• Baron Franz d'Épinay, friend of Albert de Morcerf in Alexandre Dumas's novel The Count of Monte Cristo
• Franz Heinel, character in the Japanese anime series Future GPX Cyber Formula
• Franz Hopper, character from the French-produced animated series Code Lyoko
• Franz Kemmerich, character in the war novel All Quiet on the Western Front
• Franz Liebkind, character in The Producers
• Franz Oberhauser, James Bond character professionally known as Ernst Stavro Blofeld
• Franz Sanchez, character in the 1989 James Bond film Licence to Kill'

See also

• Frans (disambiguation)
• Franz (disambiguation)
• Frantz (disambiguation)
• Franz Ferdinand (disambiguation)